Melbourne,
a city of trams, tennis, tourists and tons more other things that may
or may not be so alliterative. I arrived via the train from Sydney, I
hadn't felt like battling with weight restrictions and the costs were
really much of a muchness (a phrase I feel I haven't used in a
while). The train also allowed me a day completely to myself, and
although I had thought to spend it catching up on some writing and
pondering, in actuality I spent the majority of the trip reading. I
think I managed two novels...certainly a novel and half at least! It
was nice though to just chill for a while without interruption, don't
get me wrong, I love socialising and hanging out with friends, but
with hostel life it can be tricky to find some time and space for
yourself.
The
scenery wasn't much to look at; trees, farm animals and fields
dominated the view, though they were drier and dustier than such
sights at home. Sheltered in the air conditioned coolness of the
carriage,the reality of sweltering day outside wasn't apparent till
we paused at a station and were encouraged to give our legs a
stretch. It felt exactly like you'd imagine a scorching hot day to
feel at the side of a train in a small town in the middle of nowhere.
Like so many movies, the heat rose in waves, the ground was dusty
and there was a quality to the quiet of the air, as though it was
simply too hot for even animals to make a sound. It felt a little
like some sort of scene in a western, the quality of the heat, the
dryness and the sense of anticipation as we all waited around to
board the train again.
Soon
enough we were off once again in blessed air conditioned cool, and
arrived to Melbourne's Southern Cross, whereupon a short taxi ride
delivered me to 'Melbourne Discovery', my hostel for my stay in the
city. It was fairly centrally located, which proved very useful for
getting around, but the hostel was simply too big for my liking. It
had the size of a hotel and lacked the personal touch of the hostel
in Sydney and my subsequent hostel in Adelaide possessed. It was
difficult to make friends as the place was so huge, and to be honest
not many people seemed to be that interested in socialising, despite
the hostel having it's own café and bar. Fortunately some old
friends from the Cross were at this hostel, so I was far from lonely.
One
of the best things about Melbourne was the amount of free things to
do and the number of events going on about the place. A trip to the
information centre in Federation Square was one of my first ports of
call, from here I picked up some free walking guides for different
sights, a map and guides to all the different museums, galleries and
cultural sights the city had to offer. I then hopped onto the free
city circle tram to take in more sights and start to get my bearings.
Melbourne
and Victoria often get a lot of stick from the Australians about the
weather, apparently the city and state are notorious for bad or at
least unpredictable weather. Yet for the whole week I was there the
sun shone and it was almost too hot at times! A fact that perhaps
many Aussies will respond to with awe and disbelief. This glorious
weather meant that exploring the parks was a pleasure, I found nice
shady spots to sit and read or eat lunch and with so many gardens
about the place it was easy to escape from the noise and bustle of
the city.
The
Botanical Gardens were different from their Sydney counterpart which
is based around the bay and harbour, there were more winding paths
and fewer open spaces, but I was certainly grateful for the shade.
The Fitzroy gardens had more open space and had a few interesting
features ranging from a fairy tree to a large fountain, which was
undergoing renovations (one day I'll visit a place where there is
isn't one famous sight or the other surrounded by scaffolding!).
Back
in the city centre, there was plenty to explore and discover,
especially surrounding Federation Square. The Art Gallery of Victoria
held a wide range of artworks, from your typical landscapes to a
gallery dedicated to the apparent t-shirt culture of Melbourne. I was
a little tired on the day I visited, so didn't spend too long here.
Melbourne
has a great deal of unusual graffiti around it, graffiti that draws
tourists flocking and snapping pictures, regardless how some of the
famous alleys are also filled with the bottles and other detritus
you'd expect to find in any city alley. The graffiti is widely
varied and sometimes picking out particular works of art can be
tricky, but when you step back to see the whole coloured jumble of
the walls it really is quite awe inspiring.
Another highlight for me was the library of Victoria. For a bibliophile like myself it was heaven, particularly the domed reading room and the exhibit on the history of books, its evolution and importance.
The
ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) was a particular
favourite spot of mine, I visited it a couple of times in order to
take in the different galleries and exhibits. Their permanent
collection charts the history of images and media, from the first
photographs to television, films and video games. You can even have a
go at some retro games and create your own matrix style movie moment
(think of the famous scene where Neo bends back to avoid the bullets
and the camera seems to spin around him), alas this was broken when I
visited, but I found the place full of interesting information. I
also explored a galley all about character, identity and the media;
questioning what representations of identity are shown to an audience
and how people might be affected. One particular exhibit had a wall
full of television sets which used only clips of one actor, seemingly
in conversation with themselves to see what issues they covered in
their films, Meryl Streep in one room and Jack Nicholson in another.
It offered a thoughtful insight into the way that the sexes are shown
in films from the past to the present. As you can perhaps see, the
part of me that has a degree and intellectual pursuits and isn't
simply a sun seeking backpacker had a thoroughly good time here.
Another
fun day out was at the aquarium. The card I previously mentioned that
got me into various tourist attractions in Sydney also got me into
this aquarium for no extra charge. This aquarium had a few different
exhibits to the Sydney one, mainly a large Antarctic area filled with
penguins (no they didn't tap dance -more's the shame really, though I
might then have felt compelled to free them) and a seahorse area.
There was a row of emperor penguins sitting on eggs, and one even had
a fluffy little chick sitting on its feet! I was pretty excited, but
then if you've read any of my previous entries, or even if you simply
know me then you'll understand my love of animals, particularly of
the cute and fluffy variety. The seahorses were in colourful tanks
and there were more sizes and colours than I had known about. They
really are quite funny little creatures.
The
Sunday that I was in Melbourne saw the St. Kilda festival hit town, a
free music festival set on St Kilda beach and the surrounding area.
There was a good atmosphere in the place and with a great group of
friends we soon found a spot to set up camp and enjoy the sun, music
and company. As the sun set 'The Cat Empire', a band I rather like,
took to the stage and I have to say that it was a good end to the
evening, a setting sun, the sea in the background and some great
music playing to an energised crowd.
So
there we more or less have it, I spent a little over a week in
Melbourne, and whilst this is not the complete guide to my stay and
adventures there, nor is it really in order, this does give the
general overview. Melbourne is a more relaxed city than Sydney, the
proximity of great culture and events as well as parks and a free
tram to take you around all made it feel more compact than the
sprawling mass of Sydney. I'm sure with longer there I could have
found more to explore and see, but I can wholly recommend it as a
place to visit. Most people seem to draw some sort of allegiance to
either Sydney or Melbourne, for me they are both wonderful, though
due to the length of my stay in Sydney I suppose it had more time to
find a soft spot within me. However, I could certainly appreciate the
prominence of culture and the arts in Melbourne.
My
next adventure was to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road, but that
is a tale for next time.
